Thomas Tuchel dismisses England question: 'I don’t want to engage in this discussion' | OneFootball

Three Lions boss also assesses failed false-nine experiment after concerning Japan defeat at Wembley

Thomas Tuchel has dismissed suggestions that the England shirt is weighing heavily on certain players ahead of the World Cup.

That came just four days after a low-key 1-1 draw with Uruguay at the same venue, with England insipid in attack across both games without influential captain Harry Kane, who was rested for the first match and then unexpectedly injured for the second.

It has left Tuchel with plenty to ponder ahead of his crucial summer selection, though he does not agree that the pressure has been too much for some players to handle during their World Cup auditions.

“No, I don’t think so,” he told ITV. “I don’t want to engage in this discussion, because I think it’s very clear what we want to do and how we want to play, and focus more on the principles and on the doing [rather] than thinking what it means and whatever.

“No, it comes with pressure, it comes with noise, playing for England. That’s just how it is. We need to see how the players adapt to that and we can only see it if we try it.

“We tried it and we have to learn from it. We have two months time now. The players will play a lot of football in these two months and then we will be ready.”

Asked how many of the 26-man World Cup squad he was currently unsure of, Tuchel said: “I don’t know. I need to think and reflect, then we will take decisions.”

Quizzed on if full-back was now an area under particular consideration, he added: “We have a lot of options and we will arrive with good full-backs.”

England’s listless defeat by Japan - sealed by a first-half goal from Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma - was only their second under Tuchel so far and a first ever against a team from Asia.

“For sure, it hurts,” the German said. “It's always painful to lose, and to lose at home hurts a lot.

Tuchel opted to deploy Phil Foden as a false nine against Japan in the absence of the injured Kane, an experiment that clearly failed.

Asked to assess that system, the manager said: “It was only a false nine on one side, when we attacked on the other side it was a normal nine.

“We need these matches. We need to put it also into perspective, it is not the end of the world.

“It is never nice and we don't like it but it's not a question of false nine or normal nine, it is a matter of performing and making a statement, and winning one on ones, and being brave.

“We can do better but it is a well-drilled team that we played against and we had a new formation and new players.”